LONDON - And then there was one. One game that is, for Avram Grant to save his job. Chelsea's failure to pip Manchester United to the Premier League crown means Grant must lead his team to victory in next week's Champions League final if he is to persuade Roman Abramovich he is worth another season at the helm.
United sealed the title with a 2-0 win at Wigan while Grant's men drew 1-1 at home to Bolton. Chelsea owner Abramovich has won the Premier League before, so he is unlikely to shed too many tears after his team was beaten to the title on the final day of the season. They probably didn't deserve to take the title away from United anyway.
His real goal has always been victory in his native Russia when the Blues take on United in the Champions League final in Moscow next week Wednesday.
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The chance for Abramovich to show off his football team to his Russian friends from the world of politics and business is a dream-come-true for the oligarch, and if Grant were to hand his boss the trophy, then surely the Israeli would not be fired.
Abramovich made a rare visit to Stamford Bridge to watch the final game of the season, and, according to Grant, he was happy enough with the campaign.
"We are always happy to see him," Grant said. "He congratulated everybody for what they have done this season. We have finished the league and now we are waiting for a game we have dreamed about. We don't want to go to the final to be part of it - we want to win it.
"Getting to the final was our target. When you get there you want to win it. We want to win it. We wanted to win the league also, but it was never, for one minute, in our hands.
"The players gave everything but when they heard it was 2-0 to United, the last 10 minutes were for the protocol and then we conceded a goal.
"But in the last months we have developed our football and the last game of the season in Moscow is one we want to win.
"We need to be very proud of what we have done this year. We didn't start the league good and then all the big players got injured, then it was the African Cup, but I am very proud of what we did in January and February without our big players. But it is not easy to chase teams all the time."
Grant's future will be decided after their big final but a conspiracy theory is already gaining ground that Grant will keep his job no matter what happens in Moscow, as Abramovich sticks up two fingers at his own set of fans.
Sources in Russia suggest Abramovich has fallen out of love with Chelsea. Not because the playboy billionaire has tired of his toy, but because the Chelsea fans have consistently shown no love for Abramovich.
It was bad enough that the fans took Jose Mourinho's side when the Portuguese coach was sacked last year. But the continued sniping at Grant even in the face of a revival suggests that the Chelsea fans will never warm to Abramovich, who feels that much of the flak of prejudice Grant is taking is really meant for him.
The Chelsea fans have not taken to Grant, and Abramovich may yet decide to pay them back by giving him another season in charge, rather than replacing him with another high profile foreigner who would appease those fans. Abramovich feels that Grant, by proving the fans and media wrong and leading Chelsea to their first-ever Champions League final, as well as taking Manchester United to the wire in the Premiere League, deserves an apology, and so does he. Ultimately the disrespect shown to Grant by fans and media reflects disrespect for Abramovich's judgment.
They won't get an apology of course.
What the future holds
Thoughts now turn to Moscow and hopes that John Terry and Didier Drogba recover from injuries received against Bolton. Terry was carried off on a stretcher with an injured arm in the first half and Drogba jarred his knee near the end of the match.
"Terry hasn't broken his elbow but we need to wait and see," Grant said. "If it was down to his character, he would be sure to play, but it's up to the medical team," he added, smiling.
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